Epoxy Flooring Step by Step

Epoxy flooring isn’t just for commercial and industrial applications: residential epoxy flooring is a great option for garages and workshops since it’s tough, easy to clean, and easy to DIY. Epoxy flooring for homes and garages helps to protect your concrete for the long run, so it’s a valuable investment.

Epoxy Flooring for Homes

Epoxy floor paint comes in a range of colors and finishes, and the metallic epoxy floor is a rising trend that really takes concrete to the next level! What matters most in figuring out how to do epoxy flooring is preparing ahead of time and being ready to work quickly. If you’re too busy to devote two or more days to applying epoxy, you may want to consider an epoxy flooring service in Melbourne instead!

Preparation

Get enough floor epoxy paint to cover the area with at least two coats, and have enough helping hands available to complete the job in two hours, before the epoxy paint and hardener mixture gets too tough to work with.

You’ll need to thoroughly clean the concrete surface: scraping up any hardened debris, vacuuming up every bit of it, then wetting the floor and scrubbing it down. This can require a scraper, power scrubber, stiff-bristle brushes, squeegees, and a wet-dry vac. Fill holes and patch cracks as needed.

You’re not done yet! Next, you’ll need to apply an acid-etching mixture and scrub it into the floor in sections. Rinse it three times and let dry overnight. After that, you’re ready to make your DIY epoxy flooring 3D finish dream come true!

Painting the Epoxy

Use duct tape to tape off any areas you don’t want to paint. Your epoxy needs to be thoroughly mixed together with the hardener solution before use. Make sure the area is well-ventilated, and bar pets from the area! A water-based epoxy is probably the best option for enclosed spaces since it doesn’t release hazardous solvent fumes.

Paint around the borders of the area first, then grab a pole paint roller and put down the first coat. Additives like non-skid coatings can be mixed in on the second or third coat, and color flakes can be sprinkled over the freshly painted top coat if desired.

Let the epoxy surface cure for at least 12 hours.

Epoxy Flooring for Garage

The process for applying epoxy flooring to garage floors is the same as the process for home epoxy flooring. The cleaning process can be especially time-consuming when it comes to garages, and an epoxy garage floor DIY may not be right for you if your garage is damp or the concrete is already sealed. You’ll need to apply the epoxy on a warm, dry day, between 16-32 degrees Celsius.

When to consider hiring out the work

The time investment is a big part of the epoxy flooring cost, followed by equipment rentals and the epoxy paint itself. Solid epoxy and solvent-based epoxy should ideally be applied by professionals because they are effective but hard to work with, and you need to wear a respirator when applying solvent-based epoxy. Concrete specialists like Looks Great Concrete can handle the work quickly and efficiently, so you can focus on other things!